Important Music Stuff My Dad Taught Me

In case you haven't noticed, I think music is pretty darn cool. This is definitely something I carried from the collective members of my family. I don't remember any new music that came out between 2002 and 2003 because I became obsessed with classic rock. My dad has taught me a lot of things that have carried on since then. Here are a few that are very much... uh... most like my dad.

--Jazz music is the real deal.   What does it take to get your 15 year old kid into jazz?  Introduce him to Steely freaking Dan. Still today I wish I had a better appreciation for jazz, and I would still skip past 105.5 The River if I was still searching central California radio stations. But I'm a musician and I know that jazz is the hardest style to play. My dad tried explaining this to me when I was younger, but I guess I didn't fully understand. These days I listen to some occasional Miles Davis, John Coltrane & Ornette Colman, but even as a young teenager I was able to love Aja.

--All rock & roll music originated from the blues.   According to my dad, this is why Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix were great guitarists; they remember their roots. Eric Clapton once said that new music is so bad because too many artists listen to stuff from his era and refuse to go further back.

--Paul Simon is a genius.   Thinking of my dad, the first bands that come to mind are definitely Styx, Boston and Rush. They were like- The Big 3 for me because my dad loved them more than most people. We even went to a Styx show and a Boston show back in the day. But the Paul Simon thing has really stuck. I remember my dad used to read me books as I went to sleep when I was very little. One night once I was asleep, he secretly switched from reading a book to reading the lyrics to "The Boy In The Bubble." I woke up to it eventually, confused.
I'm 23 now and Paul Simon is among my favorite songwriters. Graceland is a favorite. At a young age, I didn't think the guy who sang about feelin' groovy with a white dude an afro could be all that impressive. But my dad knew he was genius. He told me so.

--Everything old is better than everything new.   This is so freaking true. My older brothers and I were junkies for new "faux-ternative" (thank you Pitchfork) music, but we always loved the "greatest hits" tapes we had for the The Beatles and The Beach Boys. I remember wondering at a young age if old music could be good at all. Turns out, I liked old music the whole time.
My dad (and my mom) always said that music just isn't what it used to be. This is true because most everything that could possibly be done in a studio has already happened (one day I'll write a blog about Kid A). New music can't help it if its unoriginal, but my dad pointed out how poorly some new artists tried.

--AC/DC is pretty lame.   "I've never been impressed by AC/DC." -Wes Hall
I listened to a lot of classic rock radio at one point, which meant I was hearing something from Back In Black at least once a day. It's old. It rocks hard. It's on the radio. Aren't I supposed to like these guys? According to my dad, they are a band without a soul. Even if the solos totally shred, they sound thin and heartless next to any given Zeppelin track. All the songs are about sex. All the riffs sound the same. They're a stupid band.
Mind you, I've decided I'm cool with Bon Scott-era AC/DC, and this criticism comes from a man who had Hall & Oates on vinyl, but it's true. I once said that if the music you're writing isn't personal, it isn't really music. Who knew that my own dad was such a rock & roll skeptic himself?

I learned lots of stuff from Grampa Coach. He got me into lots of great classic bands and did a great job at explaining them to me. If a man's music is what makes a man, my dad kinda rocks.